Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Oct. 30, 2007, edition 1 / Page 6
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6 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2007 The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce is actively participating in several municipal elec tion activities to learn more about candidate support for sustainable community issues, so that the Chamber can distribute this information to our members and their employees. To assist in this effort, the Chamber Board of Directors unanimously approved Community Vision 2007, which outlines the Chamber's goals for the upcoming municipal elections. In late August Community Vision 2007 was distribut ed to candidates for municipal office in the Towns of Carrboro and Chapel Hill. Community Vision 2007 identi fies six goals the Chamber encourages voters and candidates to address in the upcoming municipal elections. Each candidate was asked to consider the objectives of developing and maintaining environmental, social, and economic sustainability when developing their platforms and addressing current community concerns. The Chamber also surveyed candidates about important municipal issues related to sustainability and business climate. Each survey was followed by an in-person candidate interview to obtain more detailed information about candidate viewpoints on these important issues. For a list of candidates and their survey responses along with Chamber commentary, please visit www.carolinachamber.org/elections. In early October, the Chamber hosted two community forums with EmPOWEßment, Inc., Community Action Network and WCHLI36O AM. These forums were broadcast live on WCHL, giving candidates from Carrboro and Chapel Hill the chance to weigh-in on key issues in their respective communities. The Chamber is proud to participate in these election activities and support our members and their employees in learning more about each candidate's commitment to our community. The candidates for public office in Chapel Hill are: ‘Kevin Foy Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Wolff hometown.aol.com/kwolffmayor/myhomepage Matt Czajkowski www.mattcfortownc.org ‘Sally Greene www.sallygreene.org ‘Cam Hill www.camhillforcouncil.org Chapel Hill Town Council Will Raymond www.campaign.willraymond.org (You may vote for up to p enn y Rj c h www.pennysforchange.com four candidates) - ‘Bill Strom www.stromforcouncil.com ‘Jim Ward *denotes incumbent Chapel Hill Survey Results 1.) Is increasing the commercial tax base an important priority for you? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates 1 1 Chamber Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Position YIUIY~Y Y Y N Y Y ~ Y 2.) Do you support shortening the time it takes to have a project approved or denied in Chapel Hill if the quality of the development and level of citizen input remained high? Mayor Chapel Hill Town Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Positior^ YIYIYY Y N Y Y Y Y 3.) Would you support creating a set of criteria for desirable development projects and then expediting the approval process for projects that meet those established criteria? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Positio^ YYYUYY Y " Y Y Y 4.) Will you vote to set a lease expiration date or a deadline for the Homeless Shelter to vacate the old municipal building downtown? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Positio^ N N Y N N N Y Y U Y 5.) Do you support land use regulations and regulatory practices that promote the construction of office, retail and workforce housing along transportation corridors? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward ftjsiticw Y U Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y 6.) Do you generally support the concept of developing the Horace Williams Tract into a mixed use research park (Carolina North)? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward 'positio^ UIYYUU Y Y Y Y Y 7.) Do you think a healthy growing economy is an equally important component of community sustainability as environmental protection and social equity? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Position YYYYYN Y " Y Y Y 8.) Will you vote to implement the additional recommendations made by the Chapel Hill Parking Committee within the first six months of your term? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward ftisitim UUYYYY Y ~ Y U Y 9.) Will you make economic development and redevelopment efforts a priority for you during your term in office? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Position 1 Y Y Y Y Y YY Y Y Y 10.) Do you believe the town should provide incentives for its employees not to drive to work? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Positior^ Y U U Y Y Y Y ~ Y ~ Y Y 11.) Do you support modifying the town's panhandling ordinance to be more restrictive of the locations where people may panhandle in the downtown? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Position YIU|Y|NI U N Y Y U ~ Y 12.) Do you think the town needs to do more to make sure its committees and taskforces include more representation from the business community where there is currently very little? Mayor Chapel Hill Tom Council Candidates Foy Wolff Czajkowski Greene Hill Raymond Rich Strom Ward Position' U Y Y Y Y Y Y Y U Y Chapel Hill | Carrboro (chamber 2007 Chapel Hill Elections Summary For the following question, candidates were asked to limit responses to 50 words. 13. List up to three specific things you would do to make Chapel Hill a better place to do business. Mayoral Candidates __ Foy Wolff 1) Protect our natural environment. 1) I will promote my'Smart Growth” Policy. 2) Maintain our culture of respect for education. 2) Improve Downtown. 3) Recognize the unique characteristics of the town's neighborhoods. 3) Reduce Panhandling. 14. List up to three specific things you would do to make Chapel Hill a better place to do business. Chapel Hill Town Council Candidates Czajkowski Greene Hill 1) Fix Franklin Street now: full 1) Continue to support the Downtown Outreach Our most important business asset enforcement of existing loitering and Work Group's efforts on Franklin Street. is our quality of life. All efforts to panhandling statutes and police on 2) Continue the folward momentum toward an P**™ a " d ™P rove ** make footl inclusionary zoning ordinance that will increase k hape H ' abe er P ac fP. 0 2) Additional parking added in the most the amount of affordable housing and regularize business. We are inter in expedient manner possible. the process. bu^ in k ess thatwants !° lwe here and become invested in our 3) Focus on bringing back interest in retail 3) Continue to support the council's economic community, development- it has given up. development plans. Raymond Rich 1) Remove structural impediments—like the privilege tax—while 1) Set up a'small business incubator" for the Franklin improving the process, especially leveraging the Internet, for Street area. With this we can create jobs and enhance the starting and maintaining a business within our community. community's entreprenurial climate. 2) Make licensing and developing commercial opportunities 2) Listen to what the current merchants on Franklin Street are predictable, manageable and appropriate. saying, they seemed to have lost their voice with the current 3) Use a market-based approach in developing anew, measurable, council. goal-based strategy for economic development. 3) Make the 10-year elimination of homelessness work. Strom Ward The new Economic Development Officer gives us a chance to Before the 'triple bottom line' became part of the community welcome businesses before we regulate them. I am hopeful conversation, I ran successful campaigns for Town Council, this will go a long way toward improving perceptions about as a citizen who articulated the simultaneous need to foster doing business in Chapel Hill. Businesses seek vibrant, healthy policies/behaviors supportive of social equity AND environmental communities for their employees-and we must keep Chapel Hill stewardship AND economic vitality. I continue to value/work hard just that. on behalf of this approach. The following is the Chamber’s commentary on each of the Chapel Hill candidates based on his/her survey responses and interviews: Mayoral Candidates foy Wolff Kevin Foy is seeking reelection to his fourth term as Kevin Wolff is an attorney running for mayor of Chapel Hill. Mr. Wolff is mayor of Chapel Hill in order to complete a number supportive of some Chamber goals including the development of Carolina North, of projects begun during his time of service. On He would like to see the town and university work more collaboratively on the whole, Mr. Foy is supportive of the Chamber's Carolina North to ensure timely development of the project. Before committing interests, particularly with respect to panhandling, to expanding the commercial tax base, Mr. Wolff says he would like to closely relocating the homeless shelter and increasing review the tdwn budget as he believes it is not being managed efficiently, the commercial tax base. He would also like to Beyond this, Mr. Wolff does not support the Chamber's objective of expanding see modifications to the public art ordinance so commercial nodes outside of downtown as he believes this kind of development that it is more practical fornew development. Mr. is deterring residents from shopping on Franklin Street. The Chamber found Mr. Foy is understanding of the university's position Wolff's stance on transit-oriented development to be conflictrve with the town's on Carolina North but is concerned over how given that he would like to see larger setbacks and less density in projects such the project will affect the town’s transportation as East 54. In the aggregate, we find Mr. Wolff interested in Chamber objectives, infrastructure. Mr. Foy is a pragmatic and articulate though we wish that he was more supportive of transit-oriented development leader, interested in partnering with the Chamber. and commercial projects outside of the downtown. Chapel Hill Town Council Candidates Czajkowski Greene Hill Matt Czajkowski, a Chief Financial Officer Sally Greene is an attorney seeking Cam Hill is a building contractor and home of a local biotech firm, is running for Town reelection to her second term. Ms inspector running for reelection to his Council in order to help Franklin Street Greene says that she has some second term. Mr. Hill views the development become a vibrant commercial center unfinished projects that she would process in Chapel Hill as broken for both and to improve the negative perceptions like to see completed before she steps the Council and the applicant and would about doing business in Chapel Hill. He down from the Council. One of her like to see it overhauled. He is supportive of views a strong commercial tax base top priorities is to get more affordable significant development along transportation as a critical component of a healthy housing in town. In order to do this, corridors and would like to see an active community and a fiscally responsible Ms. Greene believes the development budget committee if he is reelected. Mr. Hill government and wants to encourage the process should be regularized and that is generally suspicious of the university but development of such projects in town by some policies, such as floor-area-ratios, supportive of business interests. He thinks streamlining the development process. should be modified. Of all candidates that the best economic development tool the As an avid bicyclist, Mr. Czajkowski is running for office, Ms. Greene is clearly town has is its quality of life and as a council also prioritizing expanding bicycle lanes the strongest opponent of a stricter member would strive to maintain it. The throughout town. From the Chamber's panhandling ordinance in the downtown Chamber believes Mr. Hill can be relied on viewpoint, Mr. Czajkowski is the strongest or setting a lease expiration date for the to be an advocate for improved downtown and most attractive candidate for the downtown homeless shelter. Further, parking, denser development, and the Chapel Hill Town Council and if elected, while accessible and interested in interests of the local business community, will bring a coherent and pragmatic Chamber objectives, Ms. Greene is not understanding of local issues to the likely to champion business interests in Council. Chapel Hill. Raymond [~ Rkh Will Raymond, a software engineer at a downtown Chapel Hill tech Penny Rich is a personal chef who is running for the Town Council firm, has a carefully considered approach to a number of issues in for the first time. Ms. Rich has a good understanding of the local Chapel Hill. Mr. Raymond says he is running for Council because he political landscape having served on the OWASA Board for six believes the Council has lost its way and is not fiscally responsible, years. If elected, her priorities range from listening more closely pointing to the Lot 5 redevelopment as a prime example. He has to downtown merchants to encouraging progressive water use a number of views that are in line with the Chamber's goals, such features in new development. Ms. Rich is supportive of economic as making parking cheaper and accessible in the downtown and development and other Chamber priorities and can be relied on repealing the privilege license tax. Mr. Raymond also expresses some to support business interests in town. Her desire to see leading views that oppose local business interests, such as his opposition environmental features in projects, however could raise the cost to the shortening of the development approval process. While Mr. of development in town. The Chamber is impressed with Ms. Rich Raymond is an approachable, well researched candidate who would and thinks she makes an attractive candidate for Town Council be willing to engage the business community, his interest in the most detailed aspects of issues and difficulty making commitments to macro objectives may impede his success as a council member. Strom Ward Bill Strom, the Mayor Pro-Tern, has served on the Council for Jim Ward works for the North Carolina Botanical Gardens and is eight years and is seeking reelection in order to guide several seeking reelection in order to continue improving the quality of projects to completion, including the Lot 5 redevelopment. Mr. life in the community. One of Mr. Ward's top issues is maintaining Strom demonstrates perhaps the best command of local issues environmental quality, though he believes development and the of all candidates and has recently become a strong advocate for environment can co-exist. Mr. Ward's interest in streamlining redevelopment and economic development downtown. He is in the development process intersects with the Chamber's interests agreement with the Chamber's position to move the homeless shelter as does his general support of the Carolina North project By out of downtown and expresses that the town must lead in finding contrast, he is not supportive of the Chamber's views on parkinq anew location for the shelter. Mr. Strom supports developing the or the homeless shelter and seems unlikely to be a strong University property into Carolina North but wants the University advocate for increased commercial development The Chamber to bring a master plan forward so that there might be more public views Mr. Ward as an accessible and responsive candidate for discussion about the form the development takes. Mr. Strom's Town Council, growing support for economic development, including his leadership in the town's hiring of an economic development officer, makes him an attractive candidate for the Town Council. Election Day: Tuesday, November 6th To see a sample ballot please visit: www.co.orange.nc.us/elect/Sampleßallotcßp This material is also available online at http://vinww.carolinacharnber.ora/elections/ EARLY VOTING: One-Stop Voting Ends Ipm, Nov. 3 ®1 ]t Hath* ®ar Uppl
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Oct. 30, 2007, edition 1
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